STRATFORDPARKINGTOREMAIN

None, however, caught the fancy of Traffic Safety Commissioners, who unanimously refused his request to prohibit weekday parking outside his $180,000 house.

"I wish we could come up with some compromise to work this out," Reussner told commissioners moments before the vote.

"I wish there was a suitable compromise," agreed Randy Osburn, the commission's vice chair. "In these cases, there rarely are."

The idea failed, but not for a lack of trying.

Reussner, who said he struggles to back out of his driveway each day, urged commissioners to consider the safety problems related to backing out between parked cars, which often sneak up to the edge of his driveway at 1903 Stratford.

"Mainly, for me, it's a safety concern -- not being able to see," he said.

But other residents objected, because the proposal would have snuffed out weekday parking outside their homes -- homes limited to single-car driveways and garages.

"Why don't you open up a dialog with the university for more free parking on campus?" suggested Bruce Livingston, who lives two doors down, at 1915 Stratford.

Russell Mosser, a longtime area resident and former city commissioner, said restoring parking once again along the entire stretch of Stratford -- currently, parking is allowed only on the south side of Stratford, west of Sunset Drive -- would be the best idea.

Kansas University students need a place to park, he said.

"Students -- that's out biggest industry," Mosser said. "We shouldn't bang them over the heads for doing something we find a little irritating."

Lawrence city commissioners will have the final say on Reussner's request, likely in two to three weeks, said David Woosley, the city's traffic engineer.